There are two Tim Hortons franchises where I live which are practically within a 20 minute walk from each other and less than a 5 minute drive away.

All morning and for a good chunk of the day, I see long long lineups of vehicles waiting to get their coffee through the drive through. God help you if you ask for a bagel, while holding up other peoples double-doubles.

I've had their coffee and it is OK, but I don't really get what is so special about it. It is just normal drip coffee, usually with cream and sugar added. Nothing special.

I've heard rumors that they put chocolate in with the grounds.. other people speculate they put in a little bit of cocaine, which judging from peoples need to have their Timmies in the morning, one has to wonder. :-) (I know I know.. they don't really...)

I just don't get it.. Have any seasoned coffee geeks been able to put a traditional cup of Timmies up against their own drip coffee and compare?

I know they just use traditional Bunn coffee brewing equipment, nothing special there.. Although, come to think of it, I've never seen them grind coffee.... Maybe I just haven't noticed.

I'm interested to hear peoples thoughts on this.

Garbage In, Garbage Out, for every step of the process. From Beans to grinder, grounds to machine, coffee to cup.

This past Labor Day weekend we visited some good friends in Grand Bend, ON. Every morning, they (and unfortunately anyone to happened to be visiting) would have to make the trek down to the local "Timmie's" for coffee. They had a Tim Horton coffee maker and a can of his coffee, sitting on their kitchen counter, but nooooo, we had to walk down there and join "Tim Horton's Coffee Circus". I was simply in awe at the lines and traffic jam around the building. We waited in line for 20 minutes for plain old drip coffee. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. I'm sure I could have duplicated it with what they had sitting on their kitchen counter. I don't get it either and second the idea that they must put cocaine in what they brew at the store. Luckily my withdrawal symptoms were minimal and I can attest to being Tim Horton's clean ever since. Take care!

I remember an interview on CBC a few years back with one of the marketing guru's with Tim Horton's. I remember something along the lines of, 'well we knew we didn't have a really great product, but we had to find something that made it appealing to all Canadians'. And that's what they did; they've somehow managed to convince Canadians that we can take pride in sharing this brand together coast to coast. It is not about the product. It is a deep seeded notion that this is what Canadians do. And, although the brand has expanded to some extent south of the border, they don't have this nationalistic element to draw from. It is only about the crappy product that they offer, and that is a difficult mountain to climb as they don't really have a 'hook' in the US as in Canada. I find the above posts a bit overly complimentary for this brand. I find their product absolutely undrinkable. As a business, they have done an incredible job of turning profits; but as a product, no thank you. I have had several free cups thrust in my hands, and will pass it to someone else, or try to abstain politely. Very sour and just not pleasant at all.

Tim Horton bought out the old Bess Eaton chain here in New England back in 2004 & tried to compete with Dunkin Donuts. By 2010 they'd given up & closed about 35 stores. Nothing great about DD's coffee either but some folks love it. They do make the best chocolate glazed donut though.

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